And in the rear view mirror!

Good morning everyone

I'm here to rectify an omission - I was very late with my card for Sweet Stampin' and thought I'd have a moment to do the accompanying catch-up post but - guess what - nope!

So here I am post Christmas Day, taking a moment to have a sit and do my blogging.  As you are no doubt aware the challenge theme is 'Christmas' and, to give everyone a festive break, this challenge runs right round until 2nd January 2026.

This is my card, apologies if it's not 100% sharp I'm working on a new laptop (that was my Christmas present!) and I've had to borrow my own image from the blog as I've not transferred everything over yet:

Supplies used:

Digital stamp:

Set of 'Gingerbread kittens' pre-coloured images from an Etsy seller

Rubber stamp:

Creative Expressions - Festive Wishes (sentiment)

Dies:

unbranded stitched rectangles

Pretty Pink Posh - Scallop Borders 1

Anything else:

Red glitter card

extremely old 'Create and Craft' (anyone remember them?) Rhinestone decals

Hot Off The Press - Forever Christmas Cards paper stack

And that's it folks.

All that remains is to say - to whoever might be left watching my bog - I hope your Christmas was whatever you hoped it would be and brought some joy and peace into your day.

I will be back in January (2026 - gulp!) and am determined to do better next year with keeping up with challenges and posting cards.  Plus getting back into Instagram as well, I don't think I've posted more than 6 times there this year!

So with all best wishes for the New Year, signing off until 2026

Sarah

Getting closer

 Good morning blogland,

This post should have gone live last Saturday - again I'm doing something wrong when I schedule these posts, but I don't know what. So to get back on track here is, with apologies to my Teamies for the late posting, what you should have seen Saturday 6th December.

It's the first Saturday of the month and so time for a new, and the last of 2025, post for Crafty Calendar Challenge.  As we are now in December the theme is 'Winter/Christmas' and our sponsor is Lili of the Valley with a lovely prize for one lucky winner.

Here's my card for the challenge:

Supplies used:

Rubber stamp:

Stampavie : Tina Wenke - Holiday Wishes set

Dies:

Creative Expressions:  Noble Expressions - Double Stitched Squares

Creative Expressions: Nestables - Stitched Circles

Memory Box: Crystal Snowflake

Memory Box: Bianca Snowflake

John Next Door: Twinkling Snowflake

Paper:

First Edition: Arctic Wonder

Anything else:

Embroidery Floss - to string the snowflake

pre-made bow

glittery card

It looks quite nice in real life, other than I think the snowflake is too small, but it was a right pain to take a picture of!

Hope you manage to pop on over to the challenge and take a look at my Teamies cards - they are lovely!

See you later,

Sarah

Mega challenge

 Good morning blogland

Well it's Tuesday and so it's also time for the Passion for Markers challenge - this week though with a slight amendment to terms - it's not a one week challenge, it's a Mega Christmas Challenge and runs for the whole of December ending on the 6th January 2026. 

The theme is 'add a sentiment' and it doesn't matter what type of entry you post - as long as you have used your markers on there somewhere and followed the theme.  I'm guessing the only reason you've seen so many Christmas themed cards for this first inspiration round is because everyone is busy making their last minute Christmas cards, but you don't have to do Christmas.  I'm sure, when the next round of inspiration lands, there will be other cards - but all of them with a sentiment!

There are a huge amount of prizes on offer - far too many for me to list here - so I would strongly suggest that you pop on over to the challenge blog and have a look see for yourselves.  You will be amazed - I know I was!

Anyways, with all the terms and conditions done, here's my contribution to the inspiration:

Supplies used:

Digital stamps:

Mo's Digital Pencil: Sneaking a Peek (including the sentiment)

coloured with my Copics

Dies:

unbranded stitched rectangles set

My Favourite Things - Inside & Outside stitched circles

Creative Craft Products - Scalloped ovals

Creative Expressions - Pearly Snowflake Border

Paper:

Art Studio - Christmas Glitter card

Hot off the Press - Forever Christmas Cards pad

Anything else:

Self-adhesive pearls

various sequins and glitter for the shaker

And that's it really.

I know there's not many people left who look at my blog, but I would seriously encourage those of you who are left to go wander over to Passion for Markers as there really are some lovely prizes on offer.

Personally I will be back much quicker than I had planned, there appears to be a post missing from my blog!

See you very soon,

Sarah